Sleeping Archer
by Hyperteenager24
Summary: Prince Matt had heard the rumours about a sleeping beauty, trapped in a curse... he expected it to be a woman though.


Once upon a time (which is how all fairy tales begin), there was a land split in two. In the north, King Fury ruled with an iron fist, whereas in the crime-ridden south had been ruled by the Murdock family for generations.

Now, every kingdom had a long life of royal princes and princesses, but the one we're interested in, is Prince Clinton Barton. Despite suffering a terrible accident and losing 80% of his hearing, he was desired by every royal family within a 100 mile radius, prince or princess (and after the fiasco with Princess Bobbi, he did prefer the princes)… although he was fond of Prince Jack Murdock.

On this present day, during yet another diplomatic meeting, the pair were sitting by the river, throwing stones and watching the fish.

"I guess you've heard the good news then?" Jack broke the silence suddenly, "About my engagement to Princess Margaret?"

Clint felt like his heart had sunken down to his stomach. But he forced a smile onto his face and offered up his congratulations anyway.

There were bigger things to worry about.

For in the East, an evil was brewing.

HYDRA.

Their power had increased over the past decade, with new recruits being brought in everyday, including members of King Fury's own personal police force, SHIELD.

Then they turned their attention to the crown prince.

"Join us Your Highness…" One of the soldiers hissed, "… Seize what is rightfully yours!"

"I have no desire to be King." Clint growled, "And I have no desire to ally myself with the likes of you!"

This enraged HYDRA. "We will give you one year. One year to change your mind and come to your senses…." A red smoke descended over the Prince, "… We curse you, Prince Clinton Francis Barton."

"Aw, full name, no!"

"In one years' time, if you have still not joined us, you will prick your finger on the tip of an arrow and fall into a magical sleep, never to awaken." (Well, there was the whole true love clause but why mention that?)

Now, Prince Clint was the greatest archer in the land and the idea of never shooting an arrow again, horrified him. Thus, Brock Rumlow was recruited to nock the arrow on the bow and collect them after the end of a shoot.

The year went by quickly, as years tend to do, with more and more falling victim to HYDRA… No-One knew why Rumlow was one of these few, but on the first day of spring, the morning dew glistening in the sun, one year to the day of HYDRA's curse on the Prince, Rumlow used an arrow to prick the Princes' finger.

As Clint stared at the small bead of blood, his mind flashed back to the curse, he stumbled over to a stone bench, lying down on it and yawning, before falling asleep.

At exactly the same time, Prince Matthew Murdock was born and promptly cursed by HYDRA, blinding him to the world before he even got a chance to properly see it.

Twenty-five years passed and HYDRA seemed to have disappeared completely (probably due to King Fury's relentless persecution and execution of all known HYDRA operatives).

Around the palace gardens, an impenetrable hedge of thorns grew until everyone seemed to forget that there was a garden, or a prince, at all. And on that stone bench, forgotten by the world, Clint slept, never growing a day older.

Prince Murduck grew up to be a fine-looking young man, with many people choosing to ignore the blindness if only to spend at least one night with him. Young women in the castle all preened and giggled when he passed, but he paid them little mind.

He was too busy training.

The curse had given him one blessing, in that his other senses were enhanced now, which is what led to his decision on his 25th birthday. Ignoring the protests of his advisors and parents, he mounted a splendid black horse, before heading off on an adventure of his own, intending to find his own princess.

Over time, he learnt of a castle surrounded by a thorny hedge of briar rose. Inside this castle, a beautiful maiden was rumoured to have been cursed, only to be awoken by true love's kiss. Merely a months' worth of travelling away from his home-land.

He couldn't remember how long he travelled for, but when his horse came to an abrupt stop, Matthew reached out and winced at the prickly feeling against his palms. The hedge stretched high above him and seemed to contain several roses. Pulling out his sword, he hacked at the hedge.

It wasn't so easy as he believed it would be.

As the blade of his sword sliced through one vine, another vine grew in its' place. The thorns scratched at his body, tearing his clothes and slicing his skin. However, his father had always called him stubborn, and this stubbornness was what pushed him forwards.

He finally burst through the thorny hedge and tapped his way through the courtyard. His stick banging against a leg, he straightened up, "Sorry… I don't suppose you can direct me to the Princess?"

It was then that he realised, that he couldn't hear any breathing. Backing away, he continued, stick continuing to tap against people, with no response from any of them.

All frozen in time, until the cure be broken.

Wandering over a bridge, he frowned as he came across a wooden door, which was unlocked. Opening it up, he slowly made his way into another, closed off garden. Making his way through this garden, he stumbled across a sleeping figure on a stone bench.

Everyone knew how to break a curse like this. It was covered in almost every fairy-tale book that had ever been read to him as a child. Slowly, Matt went to his knees and placed a gentle kiss upon those lips.

It was like kissing fire.

Magic seemed to spark all around him, and for a moment Matt felt invincible.

He was so sure that his sight had returned for a second, when there was a loud CRACK, the sound of the curse shattering.

The second CRACK, was the figure suddenly shooting into a seated position, his forehead connecting heavily with Matt's.

"AH!" "SHIT, WHAT THE- " They both yelped at the same time, before the figure seemed to notice Matt on the ground.

"Jack?"

"No…" Matt groaned, taken aback by the male voice, "… I'm Prince Matthew. My father's called Jack though."

"… You look a lot like him."

Matt was silent for a few moments, "I was expecting you to be a maiden."

"Nope just cursed…" the man seemed amused by Matt's statement, "… thanks for breaking that by the way…. Wait, didn't you even notice I was- "he then seemed to notice that something wasn't right, "- ah… sorry."

"It's okay." Matt quickly spoke up, "I don't actually mind."

"Mind what?"

Matt answered by kissing him again… or at least, he tried to kiss him again before he was interrupted by the sound of slow clapping coming from behind him.

"Well done Prince Clinton…" a heavily scarred man sneered, "… what a catch you've pulled, hmmm?"

"Rumlow!" Prince Clinton weakly pushed himself into a seated position, legs quivering when he tried to stand up, "Traitor!"

Matt tensed as he heard Rumlow's heart speed up, indicating that he was getting ready to attack. Thinking quickly, he moved the meet the man in the middle, drawing his sword and leaping into battle.

Rumlow laughed, "Really?" he chuckled, "You're blind, what hope do you really- " He stopped as Matt very nearly hit him, quickly dodging Rumlow's own attack, "What the- "

With each attack, Rumlow got more and more frustrated with the blind prince, not fully understanding how the man continued to dodge him every single time. Matt however, knew that he had to make a killing blow soon.

And then he heard the arrow being nocked behind him, as a smirk appeared on his face.

"That's it…" Rumlow sneered, "… just give -URGH!"

He grasped at the arrow in his throat, before falling back to a dead heap on the ground.

"Nice shot." Matt chuckled, turning back to the other prince, "Now, where were we?"

"Happy ever kiss?"

"Your wish is my command."


End file.
